A church directory is useful when you need someone's phone number.
In ministry, that is often only the beginning.
You may be preparing to visit someone and want to remember who lives in the home. A family may need a meal, and you wonder who else from the church lives nearby. You may notice an anniversary coming up or want to remember the date of someone's baptism. You may simply need to call, text, or get directions before the thought slips away.
These are ordinary moments in a ministry week. The latest updates to Ministry Margin for Mac and Ministry Margin Directory are meant to make those moments easier.
They do not turn either app into a larger church-management system. Planning Center continues doing the work your church depends on. Ministry Margin simply makes it easier to find the people information you already have access to, understand the context that matters, and reach out.
01
Start With the Person
Ministry Margin Directory began as a focused way to carry your church directory on your iPhone.
You can find someone by name, phone number, or address. Once you have found them, you can call, text, email, get directions, save them to Apple Contacts, or return to a prayer request connected to them.
That remains the center of the app.
The new features do not change that purpose. They add a few pieces of context that are often helpful once you are already thinking about someone.
02
See the Household
Directory can now show the other people in someone's household when your Planning Center permissions allow it.
That may include adults and children who are not otherwise included in your Directory. They appear on the person's profile without being added to search, maps, favorites, People Nearby, or Milestones.
This is useful because ministry rarely happens one isolated person at a time. A visit may involve a whole family. A phone call may make more sense when you remember who else lives in the home. A child's name may be the detail you want before walking through the door.
Directory keeps that household information close to the person without filling the rest of the app with people who were not part of the church list you selected.
Everything from Planning Center remains unchanged.
03
See Who Lives Nearby
Ministry Margin for Mac and Ministry Margin Directory now both include ways to see where people live across your community.
People Map gives you a wider view of your church. Households at the same address stay together, and nearby homes group naturally as you move around the map.
People Nearby begins with one person. From their profile, you can see who shares the address and who else from the church lives close by.
That can be helpful when you are planning a visit, dropping off a meal, thinking about small groups, or helping someone with a practical need. Sometimes another church member lives much closer than you realized.
The apps do not decide who should provide care. They simply make the information easier to see before you decide what to do.
The maps use the addresses already available through Planning Center. They do not use your current location.
04
Remember the Dates That Matter
Directory 1.3 also adds Milestones.
Milestones brings birthdays, anniversaries, and other important moments together in one place. You can look ahead over the next three months and add dates of your own, such as baptisms or a day when you want to follow up with someone.
A date does not provide care by itself. It can help you remember to send a message, make a call, celebrate with someone, or return to a conversation at the right time.
Planning Center birthdays and anniversaries remain unchanged. The milestones you add belong to Ministry Margin and can sync with your prayer requests through your private iCloud account.
05
Useful Context Without More Complexity
Planning Center serves many parts of church life. It needs to hold a great deal of information because churches depend on it for many different kinds of work.
Ministry Margin can be narrower.
Directory does not need to show every field or provide every administrative tool. The Mac app does not need to replace the systems your church already uses. Both can concentrate on the particular moments when a pastor or ministry leader needs to find someone, understand the relevant context, and act.
Sometimes that means finding a phone number.
Sometimes it means remembering who lives in the home, noticing an anniversary, seeing who is nearby, or returning to a prayer request.
The purpose of these updates is not to make Ministry Margin feel larger. It is to make the information already in front of you more useful when you are caring for someone.
Available now
See the current apps.
Households, People Nearby, and Milestones are available in Ministry Margin Directory. People Map and People Nearby are also available in Ministry Margin for Mac.